For the AJC
Dr. Terry Orme, an Atlanta clinical psychologist, devoted the past 30 years here to relieving his patients’ chronic pain.
Special
Dr. Terry Orme, 66, an Atlanta clinical psychologist, devoted nearly 30 years here to relieving his patients chronic pain. Cele Covatta, his wife and partner in their psychotherapy practice, called him a wizard at hypnosis and biofeedback. Dr. Orme died last Monday, memorial service Sunday, June 17.
“He was a wizard at hypnosis and biofeedback,” said Cele Covatta, his wife and longtime partner in their psychotherapy practice.
One of those patients, Joseph Seaman Jr. of Newnan, said that before he started seeing Dr. Orme four years ago, he was at his wit’s end because of the nagging, intense pain he suffered due to fused neck vertebrae.
“I felt improvement from the very first visit,” he said. “Dr. Orme asked me if I minded being hypnotized. I gave my permission, and he put me under quickly. The next thing I knew he was waking me and I felt much better.
“I continued to see him twice a month,” he said. “Dr. Orme taught me how to partition my mind -- that is, when the pain gets bad, I can go somewhere else in my mind and turn my back on the pain. It doesn’t go away entirely, but I can handle it.”
Dr. Kamal Kobakibou, an Atlanta internist, said he considered Dr. Orme an outstanding practitioner of pain management.
“I referred numerous patients of mine to him, and he helped them tremendously. His death is a great loss to the Atlanta medical community,” he said.
Beyond treating his patients, Dr. Orme also fought for them, said Dr. James Chappuis, an Atlanta orthopedic surgeon.
“Terry was an incredible public advocate on their behalf,” he said. “He often challenged insurance companies and workers compensation officials trying to deny them their just benefits. He set a fine example for others in our profession.”
Dr. Terry Joseph Orme, 66, of Atlanta died Monday at Northside Hospital of cancer complications. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at H.M. Patterson Son’s Oglethorpe Hill Chapel. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in his memory to the American Cancer Society at www.americancancersociety.com.
Born in Utah and reared in Idaho, Dr. Orme worked as a youth on his family’s potato farm and in their hardware store. He spent several summers working as a wrangler at a Yellowstone National Park lodge.
The appreciation of horses he developed then lasted a lifetime, his wife said. The couple had four horses at their farm in North Georgia.
Dr. Orme earned three degrees in psychology, including a doctorate, at Utah State University. After joining the Army he did his internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center before being posted to Fort Sill and Fort Ord, where he and his wife met.
Leaving the service, he worked briefly for Emory University Hospital, then moved in the early 1980s to the Atlanta Back Clinic. It was there, his wife said, that he switched from a general clinical psychology practice to one focused on pain management.
Ms. Covatta said her husband constantly told stories from his own life experiences or from the many books he read. Depending on his audience, she said, he told stories to amuse, inspire or soothe.
Steve Orme, a nephew from Thatcher, Ariz., said his uncle told him a story recently about trying out years ago for his high school basketball team in Idaho, only to be informed by the coach that he would be no more than a bench-warmer.
His grandmother noticed him moping around afterward and asked why. He said he had no place to practice basketball. So his grandparents fashioned him an outdoor court. There he spent hour after hour perfecting his shooting -- to the point he became a high-scoring player for his school’s team.
“That, to me, epitomized what I knew of my uncle’s work ethic as an adult,” Steve Orme said.
Also surviving are a stepson, Trey MacDonald of Atlanta; a sister, Cheryl Orme of Ogden, Utah; and two stepgrandchildren.